Race to the Cup Kicks Off in Copper

COPPER MOUNTAIN, CO (Nov. 18) - Snowboard racers representing multiple countries from around the globe descend upon Copper Mountain on Wednesday for two days of racing as the fifth season of the U.S. Snowboarding Race to the Cup/NorAm series kicks-off.

"The Copper Race to the Cup is a great event. Copper has been so supportive of our programs and to host a NorAm event in mid-November is a huge opportunity," said U.S. Snowboarding Program Director Jeremy Forster. "To have our U.S. Snowboarding and development athletes compete against national programs from around the world provides a great test early in the season."

The alpine-only event, which gives its competitors a chance to earn a spot for the 2009 LG FIS Snowboard World Cup in Sunday River, ME, Feb. 26-28, kicks into gear in Copper for two days of men's and women's slalom and giant slalom competitions. The two days of racing, Nov. 19-20, welcomes top alpine snowboarding nations including athletes from Switzerland, Canada, Japan, Sweden as well as the United States.

"The whole series has been really good for our World Cup qualifiers. This year we're only using Copper, so it's a really important event," said U.S. Snowboarding Alpine Head Coach Steve Persons.

Following its Copper stop, Race to the Cup moves on to Steamboat Springs, CO Jan. 9-10 and hosts its final stop at a yet to be determined time and location. The three-tour stop combines with four Canadian NorAm events to crown the NorAm champion for 2009, who will earn a spot on the World Cup for the following season. At the final event of the tour, the alpine national champion also will be determined.

"The NorAm spot is important to us going into next year's Olympics, so if we can win that, it would be very crucial. We're expecting one of our guys to do that," Persons said. "It's going to be a good race in Copper. It's an international field. I think our athletes are riding really well, especially in gian